McCracken to participate in tree lighting

Elissa McCracken, former Miss Rain Day and current Miss Ohio, wlil be honored Friday at the Holiday Open House in downtown Waynesburg.

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WAYNESBURG – Elissa McCracken, Miss Ohio 2012, will be honored during a Christmas tree lighting ceremony at 5:30 p.m. Friday on the steps of the Greene County Courthouse. The ceremony will be part of the festivities scheduled for Friday’s Holiday Open House in downtown Waynesburg, which runs from 5 to 8 p.m.

Representatives from Consol Energy Inc., the major sponsor of the Holiday Open House, will light the tree with McCracken and other officials. McCracken will then be honored with several special presentations, including a key to Waynesburg Borough, a lifetime honorary membership to the Waynesburg Area Chamber of Commerce, and proclamations from state Sen. Tim Solobay and the Greene County commissioners.

McCracken, a Waynesburg native and current student at Ohio Northern University, was crowned Miss Ohio in June and will compete for the title of Miss America on Jan. 12 in Las Vegas. As Miss Rain Day 2008, McCracken is the second Rain Day queen to compete at the Miss America Pageant. She is the daughter of Jeff and Helen McCracken of Waynesburg.

The Holiday Open House will kick off the holidays in Downtown Waynesburg and will feature live music, carriage rides, pictures with Santa, a “Flix on Brix” movie projection of “A Christmas Carol,” free caricatures, ice-carving demonstrations, food and refreshments all along High Street.

Most downtown merchants will be open until 8 p.m. and will offer deals and specials, and several organizations are participating as one-night-only vendors. New this year will be a “CANstruction” competition, sponsored by Consol Energy. CANstruction features the work of local and regional artists who will use more than $15,000 worth of canned food to create unique sculptures that will be displayed at more than a dozen downtown locations.

The public is encouraged to vote for the People’s Choice award winner, and all food will be donated to the Corner Cupboard Food Bank.

The Waynesburg chamber’s annual Christmas Parade will continue the weekend of holiday fun at 2 p.m. Saturday in downtown Waynesburg.